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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Lars and the Real Girl

Posted
on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 4:00 AM

Lars and the Real GirlStudio: MGMRated: PG-13Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily MortimerDirector: Craig GillespieWorkNameSort: Lars and the Real GirlOur Rating: 4.00
Movie studios crave word-of-mouth business as much as they do opening-weekend numbers, but that may be a problem with the charming Lars and the Real Girl, because this is how you might sound recommending it to your friends: “So it’s about this guy, this introvert, played by Ryan Gosling, and he falls in love with this sex doll. No, he doesn’t have sex with it. He thinks it’s real, and his family and friends all act like it’s real, too, because the doll is helping him interact with others. But then there’s this other girl and … oh screw it, just go see it, OK? It’s sweet, it’s, you know, funny, and it’s just … weird. But in a good way.” This sort of rambling won’t help business, but there’s no other way to describe a movie about a small-town loner who literally buys his girlfriend on the Internet. Director Craig Gillespie deserves praise for making such a silly premise so endearing, but Gosling, as always, is the real champ here; through his performance, Lars’ “girlfriend” comes to life. Not literally, but, you know, you get what he sees in her.